Lawmakers threaten TSA with private screeners

[Jesus Malverde]

Members of a House panel threatened Tuesday to privatize more airport screening unless the Transportation Security Administration improves its treatment of travelers.

Rep. John Mica, R-Fla., said he plans legislation "one way or the other" to privatize all federal screeners within two years. He would leave TSA in charge of gathering intelligence, setting standards and running audits.

"If you come to Orlando airport or Sanford airport, what is going on is almost criminal to American citizens, the way they are treated," said Mica, head of the Oversight and Government Reform subcommittee on government operations, which held a hearing on private screeners. "This is the mess we've created."

The criticism came the same day Congress began debating a spending bill that would cut $225 million from TSA and cap the number of screeners at 46,000.

The top Democrat on the committee, Rep. Gerald Connolly of Virginia, said 48,000 workers are categorized as screeners.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/news/2014/01/14/tsa-private-screeners-airports-mica-orlando-connolly/4473961/

[arcane1]

1. Why would the privatized screeners behave any better?

[Jesus Malverde]

2. The idea is that a company will lose it's contract, so they would meet customer service metrics.

TSA will improve only through the threat of losing "it's contract". Otherwise they are a bureaucracy unto themselves, who can't be "fired"

[indepat]

3. The workers would get better pay and benefits? No, actually the contractors would get gorged with

lucrative contracts and 46-48,000 workers would get the short shrift. Sorta like what the bastids have in mind for the USPS.